As is known to those skilled in the art, there is a high level of concern in medical circles for achieving high levels of cleanliness and sterilization. Thus, subject to considerations of cost and availability, there has been a continuing trend toward making surgical implements disposable.
A variety of proposals have heretofore been made for providing suction coagulating instruments for use in sinus and other nasal related procedures. Such instruments have employed a gripping member, or handle, for use by a surgeon in manipulating the instrument. Extending forward from such member is a hollow tubular member having a distal extremity for contacting patient tissue, while at the proximal end there has been provision for connection of a repository for received fluids interposed between the instrument and a suction source such as a vacuum pump. Provision has also been made for controllably applying electrical current to the distal end of the tubular member so that the surgeon can optionally remove unwanted fluids such as blood and coagulate exposed surfaces/fluids to control bleeding.
As is known to those skilled in the art, suction/coagulation instruments are more effective when their extending extremities are positioned essentially normally (i.e., at right angles) to the patient's work surface. Accordingly, there has been a need to include a provision of bendability to the distal extremities of the extending tubular members so as to accommodate differences in patient physiologies.